Blazblue: To Rebel Against Destiny
by Daxam S. Loken
Summary: <html><head></head>The world is trapped in an endless cycle of death and rebirth, and its freedom rests on those who have the strength to break the bonds of 'fate'. Are you ready to rebel against fate? Calamity Trigger Novelisation. Rated T for Safety.</html>
1. Prologue: Legacy of the Dark War

**Prologue: The Legend of The Dark War**

_"The Wheel of Fate is ever turning..."_**  
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"They say that over a hundred years ago, mankind found the first gate. They thought it heralded a new age for them. Scientists and sorcerers studied it for years, trying to discover its potential. They realised that the power that could flow from it, if they merely reached out into the dark realm beyond it."

"They called it the Boundary."

"But the world beyond that gate was not for mankind. It was too harmful, too dark for them to survive. So they made machines to search this dark realm, to find the power that lurked within, the legendary Azure."

"Instead they found the Black Beast. A roaring, hatred filled monster that devoured cities and tore mankind's armies apart. It was darker than obsidian, and seethed with a toxic mist known as Seither."

"For five years the Beast rampaged across the world, and none of mankind's weapons worked. It seemed so dark at that time."

"Then, for one year, the Beast stopped. It simply stayed still, and no one knew why, no one dared to see why it had ceased its assault. And in that time, they appeared."

"The Beautiful Sage. The White Clad Knight. The Crimson Eyed Lotus. The Werewolf. The Great Witch. The Dark Hero."

"Six Legendary Heroes taught mankind the art of using magic and the craft of Alchemy. With the tutelage of the Great Witch herself, mankind made the Ars Magus, magic and science forged together. And the Great Witch and the Dark Hero worked ceaselessly with the greatest smiths to forge the Nox Nyctores, ten legendary weapons meant to be the arch enemies of the Black Beast."

"For four years, the armies of Mankind rallied under the banner of the Six Heroes, under the name of the Novus Orbis Librarium. And together, they finally vanquished the Black Beast. The Six Heroes went their separate ways, thought the White Knight warned mankind of their hubris for trying to control the Boundary."

"And while they vanished, the flesh of the Black Beast corroded, exuding Seither all across the world in a great, dark cloud. Mankind retreated from it, the N.O.L. creating great cities on the mountain ranges and highlands of the world to act as humanity's safe havens, the Hierarchical Cities. And with that, the N.O.L. become the most powerful political and military entity in the world."

"But the absolute power of the N.O.L. chafed with many, and a tiny federation tried to secede from the N.O.L."

"Within four days, the tiny group had been obliterated, and the N.O.L. demonstrated that to turn against them was to invite destruction."

"It would seem that none would stand against the N.O.L. til the Grim Reaper appeared."

"A man clad in crimson wielding a great, white sword and a legendary ars magus. The SS class criminal, Ragna the Bloodedge."

"He's a man responsible for the destruction of several N.O.L. facilities and has the largest bounty on record, over ninety million Libra. That's enough to buy a small country!"

"..."

"Tao, are you listening?... You aren't sleeping... You are..."

"What am I going to do with you?"

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes: Yep, I'm back. Darn, it's been too long. I apologise for being away for so long and for not updating for the past three months. My writing mojo has been off as of late, my laptops have been dying on me, and I've got a job so I've been busy. Far too busy.<em>

_My Persona fics may go unupdated for a bit, as I'm getting back into the swing of things, as will my Halo fic, though believe me,_

I will finish those.


	2. Chapter Ragna: Grim Reaper

**Chapter Ragna: Grim Reaper**

"_I will never let anyone else decide my fate."_

The night was dying.

The silver of the moon was slowly stained a soft, pastel pink in the morning light. The dawn was rousing itself from its slumber, dragged forth by the sun. The light slowly shone down on the Thirteenth Hierarchical city of Kagutsuchi, the glass and metal of its great spires glowing like gold and made the city shimmer in a warm haze. It sat high above the swell and squall of seithr that condensed on the surface, safe and content.

At its peak was a great, obsidian spire, the Librarium offices, known as the Advent Pinnacle, a gaunt silent collection of offices, armoriums and chambers that seemed an impenetrable fortress and gleamed with the power of Ars Magus. Silvery warships swarmed around it in shoals like vigilant angels, high above the seithr.

At the lowest sections of the city, just where the seithr would crest if the wind was strong, a figure stirred.

It was clad in a crimson jacket, and under that it wore a black, silver trimmed mandarin shirt and a dusty, ragged hakama, the great volume of the trousers spread over the floor like a second shadow. Gloved hands rested at its sides as it sat, slumped against the wall of a disused monorail station, sleeping. The rest of the figure sat, hidden in the darkness that slowly receded. Abandoned cargo containers and the rusted cage-like remains of monorail cars sat nearby, offering shelter from the cold winds.

The sun climbed higher in the sky, the shadows retreating closer and closer to shelter, and after a few, silent hours, the soft light of the day shone upon the figure, finally illuminating him further.

White hair gleamed like fresh snow in the sun, and the light shone off the silver plates that decorated the back of his hands, highlighting the arcane symbols that lined the devices. The light hit the crimson gems set into the plates and the hairline fracture that ran down the centre, giving the illusion that the rubies were eyes clenched shut, that seemed to catch alight as the sun shone on it.

As the light caught the sharp, pale features of the man, his eyelids twitched, and the dark dream he was enduring changed.

* * *

><p><em>It was a near idyllic scene. The summer day was warm, and the sun shone through the treetops, in a jigsaw puzzle pattern of dark and light. A river, gleaming like a silver ribbon, ran nearby, its inane babble almost putting him to sleep. The boy rubbed his tired eyes, and walked over to the stream in front of him. Tiny plumes of water glimmered like glass fragments as he gathered water, dipping the battered bucket into the river.<em>

_"What a drag. If the Sister has the time to boss me around like this, then why can't she do this for herself?"_

_The bucket, now heavy with crystal clear water, was hefted up and unsteadily carried back home._

_"And my little brother... Gah, always on with 'I wanna go with brother!' He was pretty quiet though. I haven't spent much time with him lately. Maybe he's upset."_

_He took a break, resting the bucket on the charred stump of an ancient tree that had been felled long before he had been brought here. His irritation gave way to brotherly concern and he closed his eyes._

_"And Saya's feeling pretty sick. I wonder what's wrong..."_

_The golden light from the sun seemed to fade a little. As he opened his eyes, he turned to look at the church, the home he now had, and his mouth fell open in shock._

_The building was ablaze, great tongues of fire licking hungrily at the woodwork. The small vale was a hellish crimson, the light from the fire casting long, dark shadows and shone red, nightmare shapes around._

_The boy dropped the pail, the water pouring onto the grass and he ran, fear drowning his mind. He stopped by the entrance, shielding his face from the blaze with his arms. He ducked down, staring into the hall of the church._

_"JIN! SAYA! SISTER! Where are you!" he called. There was no answer, simply the angry snapping of the fire beside him. He pushed into the hall, smoke already filling the air with grey, spectre patterns above him. The high nave helped, the smoke rising to fill the vaulted roof space._

_He looked around, sweat beading his brow and arms, half caused by the heat, half by terror. His gaze finally settled on a tiny, white shrouded figure, lying motionless in the entrance to the annex of the church. He gave a gasp of relief, sprinting across the room and dropped to his knees beside the limp figure, cradling her._

_He heard a shallow breath, weak and high and he gave a relieved gasp._

_"You're alive! Wake up, come on! Wake up!"_

_The girl didn't stir, though her breathing continued. The boy glanced around, then he looked at the drawn, pale face of his sister. He hefted her up, carrying her like a doll in his arms, and staggered out of the church, hacking and coughing as he emerged into the open air._

_He set the girl down a little way from the fire, and ran over to the bucket. A little water remained in its base, and within seconds, he was trying to pour it down her throat. Most simply spilled to the grass._

_"JIN! SISTER! Where are you!"_

_"Oh, hello, brother..."_

_He turned, rising to see a silhouetted figure before him. Despite the fact he knew this person, he felt no relief, but a rising sense of dread course through him._

_"Jin! You're alright! Where's the Sister?"_

_"Oh, don't worry about her, brother..."_

_"Jin. What's gotten into yo-"_

_The world rocked for a moment, and turned red. He saw the flash of a smile on his younger brother's face. But there was no warmth in that smile. Just the promise of death._

_Something warm spattered onto his foot, and with shaking eyes, saw the scarlet circles, like drops of paint, spreading to drown the grass. Something pale and slender was slowly being soaked in the crimson tide. It seemed unnaturally white in the sudden puddle of red, and the whole world went stark, as if the colour had been bleached from his sight._

_"T-that's..."_

_Pain suddenly flared through him, though for a second, he couldn't understand what had happened. His brain, working to process these events, finally forced the words out._

_"T-that's my arm..."_

_He fell to his knees, the pain summoning a high scream from his throat. He clasped his hand to the wound, trying to stem the flow. The screaming boy was aware of another presence beside him, as a long, heavy shadow fell over him. A jovial, high voice began laughing out._

_"OH, man, you seem to be in quite a bit of pain there, Rags! Does it hurt, huh, does it?"_

_The figure burst into raucous laughter, as if amused by some huge inside joke._

_"What am I sayin'! Of course it does! Man, you're bleeding everywhere! Do you think you're gonna die! Bite the big one? Hahahaha! Oh, man, my sides, oh oh, haah."_

_He felt something cold on his shoulder, and was wrenched up to look at something._

_Darkness surrounded him as he stared in the abyss._

_"Awww, you're out already? Well, I guess I need that little brat, and your brother too. Can't leave the old hag around either. Might get some ideas about being 'heroic'."_

* * *

><p>The light shifted again, hiding behind the clouds above, and the slumbering figure moved, fists clenching slightly, the brow knotted and teeth gritted as the nightmare continued its ghastly course. And in the shadows a little way from the figure, crimson eyes stared out from a deeper black amidst the shade. A mouth opened to speak, then closed soundlessly, as if waiting.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Rain began to fall, a heavy torrent that helped extinguish the inferno. Steam hissed into the air, a white fog that slowly wrapped its tendrils around him. His eyes took in the charred remains of his home, of the skeleton of the house, and he wept, tears mixing with the rain.<em>

_He pushed himself up, dragging his limp, bloodied body towards the ruins._

_"Jin... Saya... Where are you!" he called out, anguish making his voice crack. As he crawled, he could smell something over the wet, earthy scent of recent rainfall, over the scent of blood and fire, something sweet and soothing._

_He twisted around and saw the girl standing there. She was pale, her long blonde hair tired into two long, heavy tails. The dress she wore was black, trimmed in scarlet silk and lined with white frills. Crosses decorated her sleeves and strange, wing-like shapes hung around her waist. Crimson eyes stared out at him, full of pity, full of kindness._

_She strode towards him, long, easy strides on black, silver heeled boots. She stopped just in front of him, and knelt, a shadow spreading before her, as if to prevent her dress from being soiled by the blood and mud, and slender, pale hands caressed his cheeks, lifting him up to look him in the eyes. White teeth, like polished ivory, gleamed in the dying light._

_"Do you want to live, young one?"_

* * *

><p>Ragna the Bloodedge, the Grim Reaper and the legendary SS class criminal jerked awake with a start, breathing heavily. He leant back, pressing his head against the concrete wall, trying to steady his hammering heart and lungs.<p>

He raised his right hand, looking at the gloved fingers, assuring himself that he had a right arm still. It flexed and clenched, just like his left, but there, just beneath the hem of the glove where it failed to meet his jacket sleeve, was a glimmer of jet black and pulsing red, like the veins were filled with hellish light.

"Dammit... I need to snap out of this. These nightmares are getting old," he murmured, pushing himself to his feet. He pressed the heel of his hand into his eye, his left eye, to wipe away the sleep. His left eye was a beautiful green, gleaming and you could almost see the naivety and liveliness in it.

That only served to make his right more distressing.

It was a baleful crimson, and seemed to shine with a predator's intelligence, and was darker as if tired and weary, like it belonged to someone else entirely.

Ragna the Bloodedge was tall, broadly built and, in a dark way, rather handsome, though his expressions often veered towards the melancholic in the moments where he wasn't scowling with anger or snarling.

His left hand reached out and gripped the hilt of his great sword, the Bloodscythe. He had left it embedded in the concrete, tip first, rather than sleep with it against his back. With a motion that belied the great weight of the sword, Ragna swept it up and looked down the silver blade, holding it easily in his left hand. With another motion, he sheathed it across his waist. The belts he wore creaked under the weight of the weapon.

It's grip was a piece of black, tempered steel, folded around an arcane mechanism that could let the blade snap back and forwards, or compact slightly when needed. Crimson accents had been picked out on it, breaking up the sheer oily black sheen. The blade was a curve of silver metal, that was locked to the black mechanism, and seemed meant for breaking stone and crushing an enemy than cutting flesh and bone.

Its name, however, revealed the weapons real nature. And Ragna had never needed to draw out that yet. His master had taught him how, and when he should use that weapon, and he had never found himself in such a situation. Someone spoke, derailing his train of thought.

"You look pale, Ragna. A nightmare, perhaps?" asked a soft, lilting voice beside Ragna.

He turned to look at the speaker and his impassive expression suddenly darkened.

It was the same girl from the dream. Dressed in black and red and white silks, her hair tied into two long tails. The silken ties that bound her hair looked almost like rabbit ears, a quirk that Ragna would never give up on commenting on, just to see the smallest quiver of annoyance on the girl's face. She used to follow up with an irritated, "My name is Rachel." These days, she simply shrugged off the nickname.

Ragna had known her for a long time. She was, after all, the girl who had saved him that day. And whilst he had been thankful for that, her superior demeanour and her evident disdain for him had long turned any affection into annoyance. He turned his back on her. His patience, a rare commodity for Ragna, had worn thin already, spent by the nightmare.

"What do you want, _rabbit?"_he sighed, pointedly looking anywhere but at her.

Rachel laughed, a soft, high noise that made Ragna's eyes narrow.

"Why, you were groaning in your sleep, so I took pity on you and woke you. You ungrateful beast," she said, stepping into his line of view. He met her gaze, as if daring her to blink. She did so, freely, unfazed by his contemptuous look. The wind picked up slightly, gently billowing the great folds her dress. A round black shape emerged from behind her. It was a large cat, with silky black fur, and large, round eyes. It spoke, its voice flamboyant and high.

"Why, you should thankful the princess is even wasting her time... On a man like you," it sneered, its large eyes flashing. A scarlet, rotund bat flitted its way past Rachel, to flap excitedly in Ragna's face. An obnoxious squeaking emanated from it.

"Yeah, you're in her debt," it squealed. Rachel reached out and delivered a pair of forceful slaps to her familiars, and they both cowered, yelping with pain.

"Princess, that hurt!" they cried in perfect unison.

Ragna stared at the two cringing creatures. He was fairly certain that they were Rachel's servants, or something along those lines. She seemed to style herself as a noble lady or a princess, but she was, to Ragna at least, little more than a child.

He turned to walk away, when Rachel spoke again, sounding very amused.

"What a rare beast you are. Slumbering where the brave fear to tread." As if to underline her point, the seithr welled up around the station, ghostly wisps of the miasma dancing past.

Ragna turned to look at her, his eyes narrowed in anger.

"You're more of a rare beast than I'll ever be," he snapped the next word out like a curse, "Vampire." Rachel simply cocked an eyebrow, as if amused even further. She strode forwards, boots clicking against the pitted and corroded concrete. She spread her arms wide, smiling.

"What a cocky little creature you are... Which reminds me. The bounty on your head is most handsome. How much are you worth again? Ninety million Libra?" she was smiling darkly at Ragna, her lengthened canines glimmering in the light, and he stepped forward, one hand half-drawing Bloodscythe.

"That isn't funny, rabbit," Ragna growled, and the cat servant laughed.

"Your highness, this dog is barking something," it managed. The bat thing interjected, cackling slightly.

"The louder they bark, the weaker they are," it snickered. Ragna fully drew Bloodscythe, pointing the heavy sword at Rachel's servants.

"You can shut up, both of you. You're nothing but stuffed toys," he growled and the two hurriedly retreated behind their mistress. Rachel shook her head, sighing as if bored by the display of rage.

"If these two can rouse you to anger, then you still have much to learn," she murmured, dismissing him with a wave of her hand, "It seems you are still the child I met all those years ago". She turned away from the angered man, and smiled. It had the desired effect. Ragna slammed the tip of the sword into the floor, concrete cracking in a broad spider web of cracks, and raised his right hand, curling it into a fist.

"That is it, Rabbit. I am going to make you regret those words," Ragna growled.

Rachel stopped in her tracks and pivoted to look at Ragna. She raised both arms, splaying her fingers. The wind picked up, a breeze that grew in intensity til it was a gale. The sudden gust caused Rachel's dress to billow, and her eyes glowed as she began to draw on her true power. Ragna stood defiantly in front of Rachel, his coat flapping wildly back and forth.

"Oh do please try. I would like that very much," Rachel grinned. Her left hand snapped forward and something slammed into the ground beside Ragna, a rose coloured spear of metal. Electricity crackled around its base and a bolt of violent lightning struck it, coruscating across the spike in radiant wreaths. Ragna had dodged to the side, wrenching his sword up and sprinted towards Rachel.

More spikes slammed into the ground, splinters of concrete and rebar dancing furiously across the floor. Ragna was muttering under his breath, sweeping his sword around to smash a spike out of the air.

"Primary Armagas restrictions released!" he shouted, slamming the tip of Bloodscythe into the concrete. Black flames sprung up from the impact, and a dark shape raged towards Rachel, kicking fragments of the floor into the air, like the rush of a wave scattering stone before it. Rachel leapt over the roaring mass of energy easily, the wind lifting her over the attack, over Ragna, to land on a ruined monorail car. Ragna followed easily, dragging the blade across the floor, sparks dancing. As Rachel alighted on the rusted frame, Ragna stabbed the sword into the frame and with a snarl, rent the carriage in two. Rachel moved past him, aloft on the gale. Ragna felt several impacts across his face, like hammer blows, turning him. Tiny lines of blood had been drawn across his cheek.

Rachel smiled and Ragna saw the red wing shapes on the girl's dress twisting and reforming. They had become long blades as she had flown past, a perfectly timed motion.

"What's wrong, Ragna? I thought you were going make me regret something," Rachel laughed. She heard him curse quietly and the clatter of metal as he lept into another attack.

Ragna descended, his fist wreathed in black flames. With a contemptuous flick of her wrist, Rachel pulled her bat servant into the path of the attack, skipping out of harm's way quite gracefully. The bat gave a terrified squeak as Ragna slammed it to the floor, snarling in rage. The impact cratered the floor, the bat at its centre.

As he landed, Ragna raised his leg in a high cross kick aimed at Rachel's head. She leant very calmly out of the way, letting the cat take the hit. It squealed as it was flung into the wall with a loud crunch.

"Stand still_" _Ragna yelled, leaping with his blade held in front of him. Rachel had alighted on the curved tip of the sword, standing on it easily. She was still smiling.

Rachel spread her arms wide. "You still have much to learn,_" _she murmured, lightning coursing around her. Ragna gave a cry of pain, the electricity running through him. Rachel simply stepped off the smoking blade onto the rooftop of a maintenance shack, laughing.

"Oh dear, Ragna. Is that all?"

"Ah, don't worry. I've got plenty more!"

The small shed exploded violently, and Rachel simply danced off, landing amongst the rubble gracefully. Ragna leapt forward, fist raised to strike at Rachel.

Three of the rose coloured spikes suddenly sprung up around Ragna, entrapping him like a cage. His outstretched fist was mere inches from Rachel's slender face. She was still, infuriatingly, smiling.

"And that is that," Rachel laughed. With a growl, Ragna broke all three of the spikes with a single strike of his sword. Rachel's grin grew larger and the red wing motifs on her dress writhed as they turned into razor sharp blades once more. A polite cough broke the silence, interrupting the two before the fight could continue.

"Ah, Madam Rachel. I wished to inform you that breakfast is awaiting in the dining hall."

Both combatants turned to look at the speaker, and Rachel returned to her demure stance, smiling. Ragna narrowed his eyes at the man, who emerged from a dark rift that looked like an inkblot in water.

"Thank you, Valkenhayn," she murmured, walking towards her servant, "Are you here to collect the bounty on this creature?"

Valkenhayn was a tall, aged man, with his long white hair tied into an elegant tail, bound by a single, pink bow. His suit and waistcoat were a dark, sombre green trimmed and edged with gold brocade. He gave a deep bow to Rachel, and sidestepped to let Rachel pass through the black rift. Rose petals drifted through, dancing in the breeze.

"I am sorry, Madam Rachel, but no. I simply wished to tell you that today's breakfast is a delightful piscine specimen, which I have taken the liberty of crafting into a poele dish for you. I have also selected a very fine Darjeeling tea for you."

"Thank you, again Valkenhayn. Nago, Gii, to me," murmured Rachel. The cat and the bat struggled towards their mistress, complaining loudly. Valkenhayn cast a glare over Ragna and turned back to Rachel.

"Madam Rachel, I feel I must remind you of your station, and avoid men of the lower classes, like this filthy creature here," Valkenhayn said, gesturing at Ragna with an elegant sweep of his hand.

Ragna hefted bloodscythe up again, advancing on Valkenhayn, wreathing his right fist in black flames. Anger fed the fire, growing in intensity and size.

"What the hell did you say?" he growled. Valkenhayn turned on him, his eye narrowed. His hands became claws, and his voice took on a guttural, growling quality. Lines of razor sharp teeth became evident in his mouth.

"Go on home, kid, before the hour gets late," the butler snarled.

Ragna looked past him at Rachel. He harboured no illusions that if he did fight Valkenhayn he would lose, and probably be forced to listen to more of Rachel's mocking. Ragna sheathed the great sword, letting it settle in its holster.

"Rachel, stay out of my affairs from now on," he called, his mismatched eyes darkening. Rachel shrugged, smiling.

"But I do so enjoy our time together. Perhaps we can meet again, Sir Grim Reaper? For tea?" She began laughing, a warm, musical sound.

The vampire and her collection of servants disappeared, the rift sealing behind them. The last few rose petals flickered past Ragna's feet. He gave a grunt of annoyance as he pounded his fist into the wall next to him. It collapsed, a cloud of dust rising into the wind.

"So they choose to pop out of nowhere, give me shit and book it? Graagh!"

He slammed his fist into the remnants of the wall, utterly demolishing it, "At least it helped me blow off some steam. But, seriously, they all piss me off."

Ragna took a deep breath, steadying himself. He reached up to his cheek, to check the scratches Rachel had inflicted. There was nothing, no blood, no mark of what had happened. He shrugged it off.

"Shit, I don't have time for this," he growled, turning to look at the vast city in front of him.

"Kagutsuchi, huh? Well, I better get to work."

The Grim Reaper advanced, striding confidently onwards to the city.

* * *

><p>Something stirred in the darkness. A consciousness, fragmented beyond all recognition,<p>

tasted something in the air. It reached out, senses beyond the five possessed by mortal man hunting for this sensation.

It found the source.

"_Azure, Azure, AZURE! Keheeheeehehehe!"_

It surged forward, towards the light it would forever disdain in search of its prey.

* * *

><p>Ragna broke the bulkhead that had been erected to prevent seithr corrupted beasts from entering the city. It split apart along its seam and the impact of Bloodscythe sent the two inch thick barriers sliding along the floor. Ragna covered his nose and mouth with a gloved hand, the reek of sewage and filth assailing him.<p>

"Well, _shit,"_he breathed out, emphasising the swear word with extra venom. That was all one would normally find in the lowest, discarded levels of a Hierarchical city.

As Ragna strode in, face wrinkling in distaste, he raised his right hand and murmured an Ars Magus invocation.

A pale blue light, like a will o' the wisp or a plume of gas flame, flickered into life, hovering above him. The feeble light didn't illuminate the corridor, but highlighted everything within with a weak glow. Rusted pipes and long ruined emergency lighting lined the walls. Fungus and mould clung to the walls, damp and pungent.

Ruined lettering, area codes and such, were vague suggestions on the wall, faded outlines and scabs of paint. Scrutinising one of the marks finally revealed the nature of the building he had entered.

"Sewage treatment plant, huh? Well, that really explains the smell. Guess they abandoned it when they realised the seithr flowed in here," Ragna sighed. He pressed on, pushing the reek out of his mind.

"Hah, kinda wish Rachel had fought with me in here. Her face would have been priceless," he muttered to himself. The light flickered slightly and Ragna stared at it. It continued flickering despite his stern gaze.

"Huh, seithr flux. Might be a little less in here."

The room he had entered was a huge, vaulted chamber, with twisted pipes, fallen catwalks and girders creating a nightmarish spider web of metal and wiring on the far wall. Dank, stagnant water had filled several tall vats nearby, the surface of the fouled liquid like a dark mirror, partially scummed over. Strange mushrooms and plants grew under bio-luminescent patches of some seithr mutated moss.

Small disgusting creatures, like crabs or centipedes with far too many eyes emerged from various dark corners and crannies, tempted by the heat they sensed. They swarmed at the edge of Ragna's light, starving and hoping, in as much as a parasite could, that he would drop dead so they could feast. Their skittering and clicking broke the silence.

Ragna strode through the room, deliberately ignoring the tiny bugs, his footfalls dampened by the overgrowth. A single, twisted stairwell led up, on the other side of the room. A heavy vault door, which would hermetically seal the room when closed, hung on its last hinge with what must have been the most herculean of efforts.

"Well, up is the only way in my case."

Ragna was halfway through the room when some nascent sense in the back of his mind pushed him into a low, fighting stance, left hand held ready on Bloodscythe. Adrenaline was already coursing through his veins, like an exhilarating tide. He turned his head back and forth, scanning the room. He realised that the sensation hadn't been some trick of his mind. It was his arm, warning him.

_There! _A darker shadow amongst the darkness slithered away.

"Shit, you better not be a ghost," Ragna growled, sweating prickling his back. The silence reigned for a moment, and the stench worsened.

The _silence._

He looked at the edges of the little glade of light. The insects had retreated.

Ragna leapt back as the darker shadow that he seen shot forward, slamming into the floor.

He invoked several more lights, casting them out to enlarge the little pool of light and help illuminate the room further.

The creature was gone.

"The _shit?" _Ragna breathed out, "The hell are you!" Realisation hit him as the creature, roiling up behind him as a tide of black tar like substance, also struck him, slamming Ragna across the room. It cackled and, as Ragna pushed himself to his feet, it fully revealed itself.

It was a mass of shadow against the darkness, illuminated now by some revealed inner power, a crimson glow that flickered like sunlight reflecting off of water. Claws and bone-like protrusions emerged from its dark skin, like sea creatures breaking the surface of the water. Occasionally, a fat, ugly waspish creature would emerge from the tenebrous mound only to be rapidly consumed by a tendril of darkness.

A single white circle, like ancient, polished bone, decorated it, with three, ragged holes arranged like a crude face. Two empty sockets for eyes, one very deep socket for the mouth. The sheer blankness and simplicity seemed so very haunting.

Ragna's original trepidation subsided. Not a ghost at all, but still, all in all, very bad.

"You're harnessing the power of the Boundary, aren't you?" Ragna muttered, his distaste palpable, "No wonder you're such a mess. I bet you can't even remember your name."

It reared up, extending yellowed, bone-like claws from its flesh in a feral display, like some monstrous spider rising on its hind legs to make itself seem larger. The mask shook.

"T e Azure, w ll b m ne! Keheheehehe!"

Its speech was disjointed, as if it had been spoken somewhere else entirely half the time. Given the nature of the creature in front of Ragna, that was a depressingly likely possibility.

The Boundary was a realm outside of human understanding. What Ragna had learnt, however, the Boundary was a place where no living creature could survive. But some humans could channel the power from it, becomingly unbelievably strong and the power drawn acting as a potent source of energy for Ars Magus weapons. But it was an absolutely corrupting substance, where one would lose not only their physical form, but their very mind and sense of identity. For everything you took from the Realm of Darkness, it would exact an equal price. And this creature, this wretched, screeching monster had taken _so _much.

"I guess you want this, huh?" Ragna asked, raising his right hand. The creature seemed to reach forward, before recoiling, the disjointed voice rising again in a haunting cackle.

"Y ur P wer! I m st possess! Now! Keheheehe!" it called, the voice suddenly becomingly a little coherent. Ragna raised his sword, holding reversed in his left hand.

"I'm sorry. You're too far gone to be saved," he murmured, "So I'll grant you some mercy."

The creature roared, moving in jerky swerves and graceless dives. It suddenly grew, a tide of black that engulfed Ragna. There were a few ripples, as if something was struggling beneath the surface of the water. Then it was still.

"Get the hell off!_"_

The creature was torn apart by Ragna's slashing leap. Oily drops spattered across the room, coating the walls and floor in a thin layer of black.

"Hah, seriously," Ragna laughed, sweeping his sword around to clear the liquid off the blade, "Is that all?"

As if in answer, the black liquid swelled up, undulating and swirling in the centre of the room. It surged forward again, spikes emerging to rip into Ragna.

"Come on then!" he shouted, rearing his fist back, twisting his torso to add to force of the blow. It met the tip of one of the spikes, shattering it with a hard, snapping noise. Ragna shouted an Ars Magus invocation, and the explosion of force vaporised the corrupted monster.

"That's how it is. Hitting you won't work," he growled, massaging his wrist, and he turned to look at the rapidly regenerating creature, "so I'll just break you down with my Ars Magus."

Another flex of his fingers caused energy to crackle up and down his hand and the amorphous monster shrieked again, charging. As it flew, insects and parasites emerged from its flesh, buzzing forward, dripping with venom.

Ragna sidestepped, running along the edge of the walkway over the filthy vats, the flimsy hexagonal grid-work ringing loudly. He leapt off the platform, over the tanks of liquid and kicked off the far wall, the sheer impact from his rebound denting the wall with a concave depression. The blade in his left hand lit up with fire and he rent the creature apart for the third time, sword lodging into the ground.

The babbling nonsense that spewed from the monster seemed to grow in speed, as if in desperation or terror.

"I d n't w nt t ie!" it wailed, trying to gather itself together. Ragna slammed his fist into it repeatedly, slowly destroying the tar that comprised the creature. Flames latched hungrily onto it, slowly eating away at the pitiful creature.

"D n't w nt t di ! No n n !" it shrieked as Ragna raised his sword. He shook his head, letting the black flames grew on the edge of his sword. The white mask bobbed to the surface, staring at him with empty eyes.

"Sorry, but you can't have this," he murmured, shaking his head, "And the least I can do now is let you go in peace."

Ragna raised his sword to slam it down, to break the mask and end the creatures suffering.

"Stop!"

Ragna felt someone shove past him, putting themselves between him and the wounded creature.

It was a slender, beautiful woman, with a pale, heart shaped face, standing between him and the monster he had beaten half to death. Violet, pleading eyes stared out at him from behind black rimmed glasses. Her long black hair hung down her back in a heavy tail, held in place by a curious panda decorated pin.

She was, to put it simply, voluptuous, dressed in a white dress, red corest and mandarin shirt that served only to accentuate her gorgeous figure. Ragna found it very difficult not to be distracted and stared into those hauntingly sad eyes for focus.

"Uh, lady, move. I don't want to cut down a woman," Ragna growled, blade still half raised, but the anger and motivation had gone. She shook her head, spreading her arms wide.

"I can take care of him. Please, Ragna the Bloodedge," she said softly, staring into his mismatched eyes. He sighed at the mention of his full title. That meant some wanted posters or some information had reached this town. Ragna focused on the girl, eyes narrowed. His right arm shivered violently, and he gave a deep sigh. His gaze fell upon the panda shaped hair ornament and it seemed to try and retreat from his glare.

"You too, huh? Listen, you can't save him. And if you're not careful, you'll end up just like him," Ragna snapped, jabbing a finger at her. She stood defiantly before him.

"You're one to talk! Do you know about that Grimoire you're carrying?" she blurted out and Ragna's eyes widened a little in alarm. He flexed the fingers of his right hand in agitation.

"Be careful about what you say, miss," muttered Ragna, "I'm not in a good mood. Move!"

"But I just can't leave him. Please!" she shouted, and Ragna felt a simmer of sympathy, and not a little respect for this woman, run through him.

"Move! You can't just let him roam around! He's too..." Ragna shook his head. This woman, whoever she was, was no coward and seemed to have an unshakeable strength of will.

He relented, sheathing the great sword at his waist.

"Alright. You've made your choice. I'll leave him to you." He gave her a sad, small smile, "Be careful, okay? If he gives you any trouble... Well..." Ragna shrugged. The woman let out her pent up breath, collapsing to her knees in relief.

"Thank you. I'll take care of him," she murmured. Ragna shrugged and strode towards the winding stairwell, stopping only when he heard her speak again.

"Uh, Ragna..."

"What is it?" he asked, glancing back over his shoulder. She was standing again, and she bowed, her hair slithering off her shoulders to hang past her.

"Thank you. For a wanted man, you are a kind person."

Ragna shook his head, his sad smile growing a little, "I wish I was better. Wish I was more like... Nah, forget it. See you around." He threw her a lazy goodbye, climbing the unstable stairs.

"Good luck," he breathed. The lights he had summoned stayed above the dark haired woman, gently bobbing up and down.

* * *

><p>Ragna emerged from the tunnels of the under-city, breathing heavily. Good <em>god, <em>it reeked in there! His wandering led him to a small, dark town. He saw people walking, heard voices talking and laughing and decided to remain out of sight.

He slipped into the shadows, glancing out from behind a rusted support girder.

The town was barely illuminated, though there were small fires, kept in sensibly built braziers, dotted around. One larger fire, set under a great iron bowl in centre of the town square, crackled and sputtered, and the smell of cooking fish filled the air. A tall figure was tending to the bowl, a battered ladle stirring its contents.

Ragna found his eyes drawn to a sudden flurry of movement, a desperate clucking and flapping of wings and he saw a fat, feathery hen running for its life in its curious, ungainly run. After it were three, tiny hooded figures, one wearing a colander as a precariously balanced helmet on its hooded head. Ragna saw the large, triangular ears that had been sewn into the hoods, and the curious run of the figures and it suddenly dawned on him what they were.

"Beast-kin huh?" he murmured, pulling at his chin. A broad smile had appeared on his face, "Cats... Haha, that's great." He moved along the edges of the town, staying out of sight and out of illuminated areas. He had no desire to intrude upon the dark village, though he smiled at the thought of its inhabitants. Cats... Cats were the best.

He saw a rough ragged wound far above them, a diamond shape of light that shone down on a mossy hillock. He ascended, climbing the hills of rubble and rebar and his smile faded.

The Librarium which he had fought against had built the Hierarchical City on top of this village, blocking out the light and leaving the creatures trapped in darkness. It made his blood boil. And it was just another reason to fight them.

He reached the top of the hill, boots disappearing in the long grass. Ragna gave one last look at the village of cats, smiled and waved goodbye, turning towards a likely looking exit.

* * *

><p>She slunk through the baking hot city, complaining loudly to herself, batting at the air with large, heavy sleeves. Bright red eyes gleamed out from behind the mask, squinting suddenly as she yawned. People passed her by, trying not to look at her.<p>

Eventually, her hunger and the intense heat of the city caused the figure to fall to her knees and admit defeat to her two enemies, moments before slumping forward onto her belly. Even her best friend, the bouncing lady, had abandoned her post at the clinic. What treachery!

Her arms stretched out, the pristine cream coloured coat growing warmer by the minute. Her tail lolled back and forth, like a banner slowly flapping in the wind. Her ears, hidden beneath roughly sewn triangles of cloth on her hood, twitched as she sensed motion, twisting this way and that, hunting for noise.

She heard the clattering of metal toed shoes, and her eyes looked up. She caught a flash of red, so bright and tantalising in the lowering sun. A shock of pure white nearly blinded her, a ragged, searing shape in the sun. She saw silver glinting, shining like beacons to her, and she called out, willing herself to push up on her weakening arms.

"Hey, white guy! Buy me some food!"

* * *

><p>Ragna stopped in his tracks for a second, casting an eye over his collar. He had been out for a god-damned<em> second<em>and he was already being harassed, a high, petulant voice calling out to him. He began to move on, trying not to draw much attention, sticking the lengthening shadows.

"Hey, come on, dumb-looking white guy who probably-doesn't-do-well-with-ladies."

Ragna spun on his heels, hunting for the speaker. There was no one in sight, simply a cobbled street glowing a healthy gold in the sunset. Shop windows glimmered like miniature suns.

"The hell did you say! I think you might have added a few words on the end there," he demanded, voice raised. He eventually looked down, at a small, shadowy shape in the middle of the road. A masked face stared up at him, large red eyes giving him the most pitiful look he had ever been graced with. He recognised the general outline, the triangle ears, the dark masks and cream coloured jacket as one of the cat clan.

"Ah, you're a cat," Ragna said, eyes glazing over, "Listen, I don't have much money, so I can't-"

Co~~~me on, white guy! Please!" pleaded the cat, her sleeves suddenly latching onto Ragna's leg, desperately curling up to him. Ragna tried to shake her off, but she clung on, begging for food.

"Puh-lease! I'll starve to death!" she whined and Ragna, sighing, grabbed her by the scruff of her jacket, and lifted her up to look him in the eye.

"Listen. If you can find a good place to eat, then maybe, just maybe, I'll buy you... Uh, guess it would be dinner by now," he said, eyes looking up to the darkening sky. Ragna felt the two large sleeves wrap around him, a crushing hug and he gave a strangled cry of shock.

"Oh, oh thank you Good Guy! That's your name now, Good Guy!" the excited cat-girl laughed and quickly clambered onto his back like child being carried by a parent. Ragna staggered, slightly off balance, and one of the girl's large sleeves pointed down the street.

"That-a-way, Good Guy! There's some rea~~~lly good food over there!" she called.

"H-hey, get down, dammit!" Ragna complained, before sighing and shrugging, the motion causing the girl to suddenly be lifted an inch, "What's your name?"

"Tao is Tao, Good Guy!" the girl shouted excitedly in his ear. Staggering almost drunkenly under the weight of the girl, her chin nestled on the top of his head, Ragna began to make his way down the street to a brightly lit restaurant.

* * *

><p>"Tao will have noodles, egg fried rice, bang bang chicken, shredded pork-"<p>

"Woah, woah woah. I don't have much money, remember? 'Sides, how the hell are you gonna eat all that?" Ragna interrupted.

They had gotten a small table in a booth in the corner of the restaurant, Ragna having turned his collar up and trying to half hide his sword in the folds of his jacket and hakama in a vain attempt to keep concealed. He might as well not have even bothered. Most of the people in the room were actually armed, and Ragna guessed they were vigilantes.

As the waitress had led them to the table, he cursed his lack of foresight. Activating his camouflage Ars would be attract a little too much attention, but if he didn't do something to disguise himself, he'd be found out very quickly.

Placing his right hand under the table, Ragna murmured an invocation for a Perception Filter Ars, a minor spell that prevented anyone that looked at him from really seeing his face, causing their vision to drift to just over his shoulder and prevented people from connecting his face to the ones on the wanted posters that had been plastered on every wall in the city.

"Huh, good guy? Tao can eat lots and lots!" the catgirl protested, missing the sudden glimmer of light that flickered over Ragna. The white haired man sighed.

"Okay, but I can't afford much... I only have-" Ragna flicked open the battered, half duct-tape wallet to check the battered notes he had _acquired_during his travels, "About a hundred Libra."

"So~~~~~o?"

"This restaurant is expensive. So you can have three things, then a drink, okay?" Ragna explained slowly, holding up three fingers. Tao's ears sagged in sadness, before perking up again.

"Ok~~ay, 'cause refills are free here!" she called triumphantly. Several other patrons glanced over at their table, not recognising the wanted criminal in their midst.

"I'll have noodles, bang bang chicken and pork! And milk!" Tao laughed, clapping her large sleeves together in joy. Ragna sighed, smiling at her exuberance.

"I'm going to have... Plain rice, shredded beef in chili and salt. Then... Maybe a beer," he muttered. He gave their orders to the waitress, who nodded patiently, bowed and departed, brow knotting in thought, Ragna tried to strike up a conversation with the catgirl in front of him.

"So, uh Tao," he said, itching the back of his head, "I think I saw your home a little while back. Little village down a few levels?" Tao nodded, eyes growing wide as she began to explain.

"That's rrrrright, Good Guy!" she purred, "That's the Kaka Village, where I'm from. . I'm trying to raise money to help the village! By becoming a vigi-something." She stopped halfway through her sentence, trying to remember the words.

"A vigilante?" Ragna asked, the hairs on the nape of his neck pricking up in apprehension.

"Yeah, yeah! A vigilante, because Rawrgna the Blood-something has a great, big bounty on his head. Tao will strike down the crimi-thingy for great justice!" She pantomimed several punches in the air, rocking her chair back and forth alarmingly.

Ragna realised that the girl in front of was not playing with a full deck, so to speak. He noticed that she was inspecting him a little more closely, as if drawing some connection between him and her target. He tried to divert her attention, latching onto the tail end of her sentence.

"Did you say you'd strike him down for '_great justice'_? Who talks like that?" Ragna asked, shaking his head. Tao giggled.

"The scruffy man! He's been teaching me to become a great vigilante! All for love and justice! And the Boobie Lady helps too!" she announced.

"Boobie Lady?" Ragna asked, wincing as he said the words. Tao nodded.

"Boobie lady is a doctor person. She helps me study to be a better vigi-something when she isn't working. And she has the best, big-"

Ragna raised a hand, blushing a red to rival his jacket, as he interrupted Tao's description, "I think I can guess." He smiled at her.

"I really admire you trying to help your village out, Tao. That's a great thing to do- Oh, that was pretty quick."

The plates were set down in front of them, and the smell suddenly shut the world out, enrapturing the two in a world of soft, spicy scents, heady meat aromas and the slightly bitter smell of beer.

Ragna blinked awake, mouth opening in anticipation. The meat glistened in a dark rich sauces. The noodles on Tao's plate were perfect, gold-brown strands, wet and gleaming and the chicken and pork...

Shaking off his surprise, Ragna, closing his eyes, placed boths hand together in thanks. His master's lessons in manners had been hard learnt, and Ragna had long since understood that every meal, especially the ones prepared by his master, were to be properly appreciated.

He was aware of a loud clattering beside him and he opened his eyes. Tao had already started to eat. Ragna felt silently appalled and the spectre of his master hung over him, demanding him to educate the girl.

"Hey, hey! Didn't anyone teach you manners?" Ragna asked, clapping his hands. Tao looked up, several noodles hanging in a sad trail from her mouth.

"Uh..." Tao began. Ragna shook his head, smiling, and began his demonstration.

"You put both your hands together, like _so_," he explained, pressing his black gloved fingers against each other, "Then close your eyes, and thank... Well, think about being thankful for the food." The dark spectre of his master nodded, appeased. Tao had followed suit, murmuring under her breath.

"That's right," Ragna said proudly, and stabbed his fork down on a strand of beef, and raised it to his lips.

* * *

><p>It was the best meal he had eaten in months and it was with a heavy heart that he speared the last scrap of beef and chewed it, eyes closed in joy as he downed the last of his beer.<p>

"Good god, I forgot that _anything _can taste that good," Ragna breathed. Tao was busy chasing her noodles around, scraping her fork across the porcelain plate. Ragna smiled, and pulled all the Libra from his wallet.

"Tao, I gotta go, okay? The money to pay the bill is there. Leave... About ten Libra, one of _these _notes, as a tip- that's the waitress' pay. If there's any money left over, you can have it," he explained, pushing the money over towards her. Tao looked up, confusion evident in the red lights that were her eyes in the darkness of her hood.

"Wha, Good guy? Why do you have to go?" she asked, the shape of her mouth downturned in unhappiness. Ragna gave her an apologetic look.

"I got some important things to do and quickly. Sorry, but I got to run now," he explained, shrugging, "But, Tao. It was great meeting you. Say hi to the...un, the Lady for me."

Tao nodded, smiling broadly, "Uh-huh! I'll give her boobies a good fondle for you, Good Guy!" Ragna winced in embarrassment.

"Uh... Good, I guess," Ragna laughed and left the table, weaving amongst the patrons and waiting staff to the exit.

He stepped out into the cool night air, a soft zephyr brushing his cheek and ruffling his hair. He strode up the street, boots clicking against the cobblestones, the sound muffled by the laughter he could hear. People were emerging from bars and restaurants, ignoring him as he walked past, the perception filter Ars working silently.

Ragna eventually found himself at the foot of a broad staircase, flanked on either side by tall plinths, decorated with statues of the Imperator Librarius, the shadowy leader of the N.O.L.. No one had ever seen her, supposedly, and these likenesses were simply artistic interpretations.

He sneered at each of the statues, advancing up the staircase quickly. Light shone down from the Ars Magus powered lights in amber pools. Ragna began to run up the stairs, a darker shape in the darkness, before he reached the plaza before Advent Pinnacle, Kagutsuchi's Librarium Branch.

It was a large, arena-like platform and lit with great, wrought iron lanterns that flickered with seithr flame. The great steel doors stood across from him, emlazoned with the sigil of the N.O.L.

The wind disturbed the deathly silence, gently tugging at his hair and belts. He glanced around, eyes going to a high balcony. Normally, from that vantage, a dozen N.O.L. officers would have been shouting at him to stop and then would have triggered barriers to corral and crush him. Hell, some would even snipe at him with those curious needle rifles they used.

But there was no one there. No shouting, no red faced officer, no snipers and no platoons of soldiers rushing to meet him. His gut churning with apprehension, Ragna pounded his fist on the door, the sonorous noise ringing out across the courtyard.

"Hey, Mister Grim Reaper here! I've come to invite you all to the underworld!" he shouted, stepping back and spreading his arms wide. There was no response, save the slowly dying echo of his own voice.

"Uh, Pizza delivery here!" Ragna called, sniggering at his own bad joke. His own, low laughter sneered back at him. He placed his palms flat against the door, fingers running over the grooves and decoration in the great double doors. He narrowed his eyes, sensing the Ars Magus lock placed within the door.

Ragna rolled his right shoulder, and prepared to 'unlock' the door. He reared his right fist back, twisting to add more force to the strike.

"Primary Restriction Released," he murmured, and the Perception Filter Ars faded. No point keeping it on here. He wouldn't hide or skulk around. They would see him. And they would fear him. He punched forward, feeling the steel deform around his fist and sensed the seal utterly shatter before the onslaught of seithr. It wasn't _unlocking_ per se. More like kicking the door down. Which Ragna proceeded to do, the two steel bulwarks thundering to the floor as the heel of his boot tore them clean off their hinges.

The light from the Branch cast the plaza stone work in soft orange light. He walked through the door, feeling his anxiety deepen, but it was overshadowed by another feeling. Ragna clenched his right fist, the arm shivering in response. Ragna's breathing began to grow a little laboured, sweat suddenly beading his brow.

"That's... that's right," he growled, "you react to it, huh?"

On instinct, Ragna threw himself to the left, rolling behind a marble column. Three blurs of motion ripped through the air where he had been standing a second before. One of the indistinct shapes smashed into the door frame, shuddering as it stopped.

Ragna leant around the thick column he was using as cover as a figure, a silhouette retreated into a room further ahead, the door slamming shut behind it. As Ragna stepped out, he reached for the thing stuck into the wall.

It was a sword, made of a clear, glass like material. Steam wafted off it and Ragna felt the temperature of the room drop considerably. He reached for the hilt of the weapon and broke it clean off. His gloves were slick with water and realised the sword wasn't made from glass or crystal. It was solid permafrost. The hilt was crushed in his fist.

He turned, face turning into an angry snarl. His thunderous foot falls rang out in the brightly lit corridors.

Ragna saw the door ahead and smashed it open with his shoulder, drawing his sword in a broad, lethal arc.

He felt the blade stop short, the sudden halt sending a ripple of pain through his left arm. He saw the thin, silvery blade of a tachi, impossibly slender against Bloodscythe's immense weight.

Ragna's gaze followed the curve of the opposing weapon, finally looking into the face of a slender man. Locks of blonde hair framed the beautiful face, the large green eyes and smirking lips. The smirk was friendly, warm. Almost... _Brotherly._

Ragna broke the stalemate, twisting the sword around to knock the tachi away and leapt back. He landed, boots clattering, facing a pair of curving stairwells leading to a second platform in the chamber. Behind him was a balcony looking over a massive, vaulted hallway. Two, impossibly large statues of the Imperator kept their impassive vigil over the chamber.

The man standing before him sheathed the sword, the weapon disappearing into its scabbard with a hiss. He was clad in a long officer's coat, a sapphire blue colour, trimmed with gold and lined with wine-red silks. Detached sleeves hung off his shoulders, held in place by thick cords of crimson. Under the long coat, he wore a pristine white gi, hugged close to his body with black belts.

Ragna's jaw tightened. _All these goddamned years... I run into him today, shit._

"I see you're as reckless as always," murmured the soldier opposing Ragna. He began walking, circling Ragna, smirking at him. He stopped shaking his head, the blond hair flicking back and forth. And his eyes lit up.

"Brother," Jin Kisaragi finished, his voice low and sibilant.

Ragna didn't respond. He had heard about his brother, a respected officer in the N.O.L. and wielder of the legendary sword, Yukianesa. He had apparently fought in the Ikaruga Rebellion, quelling the insurgency in a matter of days. From what Ragna had heard, Jin had utterly massacred his opposition.

"Why so cold, brother?" asked Jin, acting every inch the loving, long lost sibling. He cocked his head, looking so very, very sad, "I was so glad when I heard you were alive, and I-"

"Bullshit," snapped Ragna, his voice low and venomous, "You cut off my arm... And burnt our home down. Why the hell would you miss me?" Jin blinked, his face blank, before his mouth broke into a small, wistful smile. He looked thoughtful and spoke slowly, as if arranging his thoughts.

"You're the most wanted man in the history of the N.O.L., with a bounty big enough to buy a small country. And an enemy of the N.O.L..."

Jin turned and held his arms spread wide, dramatically, and his grin grew broader, "Is an enemy of mine."

Ragna raised his right hand, his left holding Blood-scythe in a reverse grip, ready to spring into action, when Jin doubled over with laughter.

"No, no... I'm just joking, brother," he murmured. His eyes suddenly became very wide, gleaming maniacally, and his mouth opened in a much wider smile. It was cold, like a dead man's grin, and his voice suddenly rose an octave.

"I was so glad to hear that you were alive," he hissed, _"_because that meant I got to kill you again_!"_

Ragna snarled, sprinting forward, Blood-scythe slashing around.

Jin cackled, drawing his sword and shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice ringing out in the cathedral hall, "Nox Nyctores, Yukianesa, Activate! Come, Brother, let's kill each other!"

Jin's sword danced around Ragna's, the slender weapon deflecting Ragna's broadsword. Each sweeping strike was blocked and turned, Jin parrying with almost balletic precision. Ragna may have had great strength and a good measure of skill with his blade, but Jin had spent years wielding a sword like Yukianesa, being empowered by it.

Their blades met again and again, clattering as Ragna tried to use his superior strength and bulk to hamper Jin, whereas the slender swordsman gave ground freely, keeping himself from being cornered with a combination of feints and strange foot movements, slipping around Ragna and forcing him to take a far more defensive stance in the fight.

Ragna felt several impacts along his side and grunted in pain. The wounds were as cold as ice, numbed by the blade Jin was wielding. Blood hit the floor in crystalised shards, dark rubies that rapidly melted into irregular smudges on the stone floor. Jin laughed, a high, mad cackle as he swung Yukianesa in killing arcs. Ragna ducked back, dodging the attacks. He twisted to the side, feeling the ghost touch of cold as a trio of those razorsharp ice blades passed within an inch of his skin.

Jin swept his sword around, laughing, as a wall of razor sharp crystals shrieked towards Ragna.

Ragna snarled, spread his footing, and summoned a ragged spear of darkness, watching it shriek forward.

The two walls of irresistible force met, neither extension of will faltering, and the explosion thundered through the vaulted room in a torturous wail of sundered air. Steam and dust filled the air in an obscuring veil.

Jin suddenly stepped in, leaping through the cloud, sword held across in a guard, and pushed forward, forcing Ragna closer and closer towards the balcony. With a motion of the sheath held in his left hand, a great spike of ice ripped from the floor and speared towards Ragna.

Ragna shattered it in his right hand, clenching his fist around the spike and watching it simply crumble under his fingers.

They met again, swords shrieking with every impact and Jin laughed his high, psychotic laugh and with a flourish of his sword, filled the air with icy mist.

"Jin, you bastard, where are-!"

Ragna's cursing was cut off by a freezing sensation that stole the feeling from his feet. He looked down, seeing the entire floor rimed in quick frost.

"_Arctic Dungeon,"_ murmured a sibilant voice.

Jin was kneeling some distance away, sword stabbed down into the stone floor. Ice sheeted out from it, forming a rock hard layer across the entire room. The air was thick with ice mist and the temperature dropped considerably. Ragna felt his vision suddenly turn dark and he gritted his teeth. Jin stood and, with a dramatic flourish, sheathed the sword. Ragna felt ice explode around him, razor sharp shards ripping into him, drawing thin lines of blood from his face.

Jin turned his back on his brother, shaking his head. His body shook from the effort of using that much power of Yukianesa. This fight wasn't what he had expected, what he thought of. What he had _hoped _for.

"Brother, this is no good at all!" he snapped, raising both hands in the air in mocking despair, "I expected oh so much more from The Grim Reaper, the rebel against the world. What about the power of the Azure you so brazenly wield? You're no fun at all!"

Jin spun on his heel as he heard the heavy gasping of breath. His mind raced, desperately thinking. There was no way Ragna had survived that!

Ragna stood, a little cut up and bloodied, but alive. He raised his right fist. Something seethed within the crystal mounted upon his fist. His lips were drawn back in a feral sneer for a moment.

"You want to see my power? Fine then!" shouted Ragna, arching his back and rearing his head upwards, a bestial snarl on his lips, "Blood Kain Limiter released!"

The crystal on Ragna's right hand suddenly exploded in crimson light, bathing the room in light the colour of fresh blood. Ragna himself was wreathed in black flames, a terrible and beautiful image of power. As the black flames raged and spilled across the room, he pulled Bloodscythe from its resting place, embedded tip first in the floor, and swept it around. With a blur of motion, Ragna stood right next to Jin, one fist poised to strike, surrounded by black flame.

"Get lost_!" _He shouted, feeling the impact as he slammed Jin into the air and with a high kick, sent a spire of black light at his brother. Jin gave a yelp of shock and pain, before he hit the ground, groaning in pain. He rose to his feet, trying to draw Yukianesa. Ragna wasn't in front of him.

"Hey, Jin. There's something I need you to do," whispered a voice in his ear. Jin froze, fear running through his veins. He felt the breath on the nape of his neck and then the vice like grip lock around his narrow neck. The world span away from him and he felt himself lifted and slammed up against a pillar. Dark tendrils ran across the pillar, a claw of obsidian that was now Ragna's arm. Fear fully controlled Jin as he saw the bestial snarl on Ragna's lips.

"Be Devoured in Darkness!" shouted Ragna and Jin screamed in pain as a thousand slashes ripped into him and the world went mercifully dark for Jin Kisaragi.

Ragna let the limp shape of his brother fall to the ground, his sword disappearing in a puddle of melt water. Jin was still breathing, shallowly, but he was alive.

Ragna hefted Bloodscythe up, letting it hang in a reversed grip. A single motion would remove another threat to his life and mission. He shook his head, sheathing his greatsword. "All restrictions and limiters re-engage." The control crystal on his right hand gave an indignant screech, slamming shut.

_I can't kill him. He's my little brother. Something just... Twisted him._

He grabbed the collar of Jin's longcoat and began to drag him to a corner, sliding the unconscious soldier into a shadowed alcove. The motion managed to wake Jin, who blinked, bleary eyed. He coughed, sending a small aspirated spray of red mist. Ragna knelt down, face stern and cold as he looked into the emerald eyes of his little brother.

Jin gave a nervous smile, "So, I guess this where you kill me, right?"

Ragna shook his head, "No, Jin. I won't kill you. You have answers for me, so let's make a start." He glared into Jin's eyes and was about to question him when something rang out in the halls, a sonorous ringing of a bell. Ragna stood, eyes wide with alarm.

"Shit, that's a Cloister Bell. Is the Cauldron... I've got no time anymore," he snarled, "Jin, just sit there for a bit."

Ragna stood, ignoring Jin, and sprinted towards the centre of the N.O.L. Branch, leaving Jin alone, shouting for Ragna not to leave. The wounded soldier pulled himself up, trying to follow the criminal. He got several feet before simply falling to the ground, gasping in pain and disbelief.

"No, no, not now!" he bawled, reaching out in vain for the disappearing figure.

* * *

><p>The darkness was all encompassing, though to his eyes, glowing like crimson flames, the gloom hid nothing from his sight. Gold, isometric patterns had been acid etched into the floor, sweeping designs that acted as conduits for the device in the chamber behind him. The floor was blackened in several places, scorched by energy coruscating off the armour that encased him as he was transferred there.<p>

Fingers gauntleted in black and white clenched and the tall figure crossed his arms, waiting for a foe he had endured a century of darkness to confront.

* * *

><p>Ragna hammered his fist on the elevator's control ars magus, feeling the massive plate he was standing on trembling. It was a circular platform, lit by a dozen cyan lights set in depressions all around it, and three heavy gear tracks set into the walls began to grind and groan. A single control lectern, a gleaming silver pillar set with ars magus controls.<p>

Ragna stood waiting, listening to the gears work and the low, calming hum of the seithr devices that powered the elevator. It moved quickly, though it seemed to take an eternity to reach its destination.

The wounds Jin had inflicted had healed fairly quickly, the energy crackling from his right arm dancing across any injury and sealing it. He gave a soft sigh, clenching his fists again. It had taken a little too much to heal them all and he felt drained from the effort.

Ragna paced back and forth and glared upwards when he heard the sonorous ringing of the Cloister Bell again.

"Come on, I'm running out of time. What's taking this elevator so god damn long?" he snapped, checking the control lectern, "How big is this facility?" The gleaming icons that flashed over the screen spelled nothing but nonsense. As Ragna was about to slam his fist through the console in annoyance, the elevator slowly, achingly, ground to a halt.

The armoured bulkheads, bare grey steel doors that sat at the opposite end of the shaft, suddenly peeled back, filling the room with a dull, golden light. There was an electronic charging noise, and with the sudden concussive thump of heavy Ars Magus lights clicking on, the light flashed into blinding white brilliance.

Ragna blinked in the light, half shielding his face with his right arm. As his sight adjusted to the sudden flare, he strode out of the elevator, eyes flicking back and forth, hunting for enemies or threats.

The chamber he had entered was a vault roofed chamber, its walls chased with gold patterns in the shapes of roiling storm clouds and angel wings. Blade and sword symbols festooned massive bulwarks, protective barriers that seethed with seithr and arcane energy.

He felt something resonant in the jet black mass of his arm, and he doubled over, gripping it.

"Wasn't this troublesome last time. Guess since it's so close to forging..."

Ragna's musing was cut off when he sensed another presence in the room. He spun on his heel, his left hand pulling blood-scythe free. His breath caught in his throat and he tasted something sharp and unwelcome in his mouth.

The figure was clad in white, overlapping plates of armour. Where it lacked armour, it had black, leathery skin like obsidian. It looked like an amalgamation of the Ars Magus powered armour Ragna had fought against in the N.O.L. facilities in the past and an image of an ancient samurai.

The visor was a pristine white mask, unmarked by vision slits or eye pieces. Silver white hair hung in a ragged, silken tail down the creature's spine, though the tail was nine individual locks of silvery hair, hanging together.

The eyes were the worst part. Set in either shoulder, and on the armour boots and gauntlets were crimson, slitted eyes, glared at Ragna with searing hatred.

And Ragna's eyes finally settled on the hilt of the nodachi slung over his opponent's shoulder. The sapphire set in the golden facings glimmered and he knew the weapon.

And part of him realised who stood in front of him.

And the burning, crushing sensation in his heart, the unwelcome taste in his mouth was explained.

_This is fear._

The figure spoke, his voice rendered metallic by the marble white visor, and Ragna felt a sensation of Deja Vu rush over him.

"Much time has passed since we last met, Black Beast," it hissed, fingers reaching for the sword on his back and with a whisper of motion, he drew it.

Ragna shook his head, "Much time? The hell are you talking about?" He tightened his grip on his chest, trying to still his thundering heart.

"The darkness that sleeps within you fears me. It knows me," the figure growled, "It knows its end has come."

Ragna forced blood-scythe up, trying to push the dreadful sensation from his chest, "What the hell are you talking about?"

The white clad soldier stopped, and tilted his head as if amused, "Oh. Your voice trembles. What is amiss?"

Ragna shook his head, "Shut the hell up! Primary restrictions released!" Energy coruscated off his arm and he gave a snarl of rage.

The knight nodded the blank visor, "You have stood your ground before me. You have my respect." He raised the blade high in a curious, compact stance.

"Who the hell are you?" Ragna asked, his breathing finally slowing and his beating heart stabilising. The figure before him laughed, a harsh, gloating noise, as he advanced, and began to call out, as if reciting some battle creed.

"I am the white void."

Ragna charged forward, sword dragging across the stone floor, stone fragments spitting up behind him.

"I am the cold steel."

The knight advanced as well, long legged strides carrying him forward confidently.

"With blade in hand shall I reap the sins of this world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction!" he shouted and their swords met, a deafening crash of steel on steel.

The rebound of the attack pushed Ragna back, leaving his guard open. The figure forced himself forward, shoulder catching his opponent in the chest, before the silver sword slashed past him again. Ragna blocked the blade, teeth gritted as he glared into the masked visage.

The figure leant in close and hissed at Ragna.

"I am Hakumen."

Ragna's eyes widened and with that moment of hesitation, Hakumen delivered a withering hail of strikes, forcing the crimson clad man back, and opening several livid wounds across his arms.

The man before him was Hakumen.

_Shit._

The man who had fought the Black Beast a century ago. The man who, if legends held true, had endured a century in the Boundary, enduring only through sheer willforce and sense of righteous purpose. The man clad in the Susano'o armour, the legendary Sankishin device. The sword in his fist was the Nox Nyctores: Ookami, the blade of Evil's Destruction, the Bane of the Immortal, the Howling Wolf.

This man had delivered the killing blow to the creature that consumed half the world in ten years.

Ragna felt outmatched, and the battle hadn't even truly begun.

He took a deep breath, holding Blood-scythe in a reverse grip across his chest. He would have to play this carefully. Despite the fame of the hero and his sword, there had never been any documentation or study into his fighting style. There was no chance that staying on the defensive would win the battle.

He pushed forward, roaring, as he brought the blade around in a crushing strike.

"Hero or not, get the hell outta my way!" Ragna snarled.

Hakumen raised his hand and effortlessly blocked the great edge of Blood-scythe.

"Fool. You will not pass_," _the hero murmured, fingers suddenly flaring with snow white flames.

Ragna felt himself crash into the stone wall behind Hakumen, as if he had simply been flung over his shoulder. He slammed to the floor with a sickening crunch and through his pain, pushed himself into a roll to avoid a crushing slash of Hakumen's silver blade.

Ragna pushed himself to his feet, using the momentum to put a bit of distance between him and the knight, who performed a complex slashing motion, his blade leaving strange, spectral patterns in the air.

The slash wounds on Ragna's left arm blazed with white hot pain, something wholly alien to Ragna. Normally, his own augmented body could dull the sensations of injury, the _arm _drawing on pain to further increase Ragna's drive to fight and survive. But now, this pain simply made him wince and notice just how much blood dripped to the floor. And his wounds...

His wounds weren't healing.

Ragna threw his fist up, catching Hakumen's arm on his forearm, and slammed Blood Scythe forward, feeling the weapon jar to a halt as it met the iron flesh of his opponent. Hakumen slid back a few yards, clawed feet dragging through the stone. Ookami slashed down, leaving motes of white energy behind as he tried to hew Ragna in twain. Ragna dodged clumsily.

His right arm wasn't bleeding, but a dull pang of pain made him look at the limb.

Through the frayed coat sleeve, he saw the jet black skin of his Grimoire. He clenched the fist, watching small embers of crimson flicker across his arm. Part of him screamed to reach into the device and draw forth its true form. But he felt unease flow through him at the thought.

"What is this pitiful performance, Dark One? Is your fear dulling your will to fight? Why not unleash your Grimoire?" Hakumen taunted. Ragna stared at his arm, unable to form an answer other than a snarl of annoyance.

"Shit. I could... But if I do," he glanced at Hakumen, meeting the blank visor's unerring gaze.

"I might-"

"You would doom the world by being reborn as the Black Beast," Hakumen stated, coldly.

The Azure Grimoire. The Flesh of the Black Beast. The Original Codex. It was the most powerful magical artifact in the world, capable of channelling the power of the Boundary without corrupting its user with the toxic substance. But it came at a price.

Ragna had long had it drilled into his head that using his Grimoire invited an opportunity to become the Beast of the Dark War. The resonant energy apparently caused by it could react with Seithr and the human body, transmuting the user into a mindless monster.

The Power of the Azure was not his to command.

Ragna calmed himself, and spoke "Secondary restriction released."

Small wisps of flame emerged from the crystals and Ragna glared at Hakumen, "Go to hell, hero."

Ragna leapt, a spiralling attack that brought his fist down across Hakumen's visored face. Black energy coruscated off his fist, jumping to Hakumen as the figure was bowed under the strike.

"To. Hell. With. This. Self. Righteous. _S__hit_!" Ragna growled, punctuating each word with a slamming impact from either his sword or fists. Black flames burnt the stone floor, and he gave a feral grin as he saw his attacks actually _staggering _the knight.

The sword Ookami slammed into his chest, and Ragna felt the edge rip into him, drawing thick, bright blood in ribbons from the wound. He shook his head and staggered back, eyes narrowing at the sight of snow white flames billowing from Hakumen's armour.

"Shit, that's how you do it," growled Ragna, shaking his head, "A temporal distortion ars magus. That's what you're doing, right?"

Hakumen didn't react, but lunged forward, sword shrieking towards Ragna again, and he raised Blood-Scythe to defend against it. With a grunt of exertion, he smashed the opposing weapon away and threw himself forward.

Ragna shouted, commanding a column of hellfire, filling the space where Hakumen stood with black flames. The knight withstood it, armour not even blackened or scratched under the inferno, and he raised one hand, white flames billowing off his clawed fingers. The sword was raised in a knight's salute, the same purifying conflagration that engulf him spilling onto the sword.

"Judgement of the Sword," Hakumen growled, each word carrying a magical control cantrip, twisting the seithr around and absorbing it into the blade. A runic circle blazed into life at Hakumen's feet, bleaching the light in the room into a stark monochrome, and energy coursed through the armour of Susano'o.

"Infinity!" he shouted, leaping forward, and Ragna felt the sword slash him as Hakumen blurred past him. One cut become two, then four, then a dozen as Hakumen exploited his temporal distortion and his enhanced strength to its fullest.

Ragna fell to one knee, gasping in pain as blood spattered the floor in dark pools. They ran along the acid etched marks in the floor, coursing like rivers of darkness against the gold markings.

"So, Dark One, you have come this far, to fall to my blade," Hakumen murmured, flicking his blade to clean the blood off of it, "I know your strengths and weaknesses. Your flesh will not heal as fast as usual, and the darkness you throw against me is incapable of piercing my armour. We have fought more times than you could possibly guess, and I have never seen you triumph before me."

Ragna forced himself to his feet, and Hakumen took in a harsh breath, surprised at the endurance his opponent possessed.

"The hell are you babbling about, idiot," growled Ragna, raising Blood-scythe, "I'm never, and I mean _never_, giving in. So if you think you can break me with some cryptic bull, better think again."

Hakumen laughed, "You can barely stand. Yield and receive a painless death. And with that, I will have lifted yet another sin, both off my shoulders and yours. Allow me to grant you the mercy of release from this world of insanity."

Hakumen raised his blade, then gave a grunt of pain. Electricity the colour of the night sky suddenly coruscated off his armour, strobing across the room in a violent display of spatial distortion. He gave a cry, a wounded roar of denial and reared his head back, his once calm, deliberate voice raised in pure, violated rage.

"A thousand curses on you, Grimalkin! How _dare _you interfere with this battle!" he screamed, before a growing pall of darkness, light an inkblot spreading in, engulfed him and he vanished, leaving only the echo of his raging voice and wounds on Ragna's flesh behind.

Ragna blinked, chest heaving as he tried to block the pain from his mind. That had been a spatial transfer ars, a magical art that enabled the user to move themselves or their target to a location of their choosing. It was an art of complex, so sublime, that few could have mastered it. Ragna knew of three people who had.

"Was that... Rachel?" he breathed, clamping one hand over a large, weeping wounding across his shoulder, "No, doesn't have her feeling to it. This was... really inaccurate."

His musings were cut off again when his wounds flared with pain again.

"Goddamn Ookami and the damn witch who forged," Ragna snarled, "Come on, _seal _at the least."

He focused, drawing on the energy shivering in his arm and he felt some of his wounds close, but barely stemming the flow of blood. He closed his eyes. So close to failing, close to death. He would have to make a quick escape when he destroyed this room. Ragna knew he was in no condition to fight anyone.

"O-okay then. The seals are here, so if I break them-"

The Gate opened.

Wind billowed out across the room, bearing the acrid stink of seithr with it. The vaulted chamber suddenly grew very cold, as the warmth in the room was drawn out into the room beyond, and Ragna cursed.

The room beyond was a cavern, the walls made of roughly hewn rock and buttressed with tall pillars of marble. Massive seithr conduits and equipment clung to the walls like cobwebs, pulsing with ethereal light.

In the centre of the room, there was the mural of the Imperator, beatified as a seraphic creature of ancient mythology, the six massive wings forming an iris over a pit. Each one unfolded, and with each massive creak of steel and ebony stone the room shook.

In the great pit was the pinnacle of mankind's scientific and magical achievement. A roiling inferno of golden flame, tiny flickering embers flaring up and dancing across the stone, billowed within the Cauldron.

Ragna felt his right arm shiver in sympathetic resonance and his breathing deepened as he saw a crystalline blade emerge from the cauldron, crackling with energy as it was dragged from the flames. An automated warning siren kicked in, and headache red emergency lighting bathed the room. A voice rang out, echoing in the vastness of the chamber.

"_Caution! Caution! Caution! Forging process completed. Anti-Sankishin Core Unit Murakumo Nu-13 has been engaged. Prepare Gate of Sheol Aperture."_

Ragna watched as the sword finally reached the roof of the chamber and saw the seal set into its hilt. It looked like a slender faced girl, entrapped behind a steel shield and bound by chains as think as his arms.

The chains broke, the shield was sundered, and an indistinct figure descended on the gusting thermals from the furnace.

A white cloak fluttered around a slender, waif like body. Pale skin, the snow white colour of flesh that never knew sunlight, shone like moonlight in the room. White hair hung in a long, braided tail down the figure's back, and a crimson light shone from beneath the fringe that obscured the face of the figure. Her lips moved as she murmured to herself.

"Loading... Loading... Loading," she breathed, her voice a calm whisper in the room.

Ragna staggered forward, breathing heavily. Blood-scythe was being dragged along the floor in limp, almost slack fingers, tracing a thin scar across the floor. If he attacked before it was ready, he might still be able to destroy the cauldron and escape. But he knew, deep in his heart he didn't have the strength to get there in time to kill the Murakumo unit.

"All systems engaged. Murakumo Unit Nu-13 active," the girl murmured tonelessly. Her eye opened, and the cold emotionless expression she wore suddenly turned into a childish smile of excitement. She ran, bare feet padding silently against the stone. She ran through the puddles of blood, ignorant of the crimson marks she tracked across the room.

"Ragna! You finally got here!" the girl shrilled, almost embracing the wounded man. Ragna stepped back, one hand clutching a heavy scar across his stomach, his other hand raising Blood-scythe to keep the girl away.

"Stay the hell away!" he snarled, eyes burning with rage, though Ragna almost felt as if he was about to be sick. The pain, blood loss and general traumas he had suffered were all trying to be at the centre of his thoughts, and he staggered almost drunkenly away from the girl. She looked almost heartbroken, before her expression took on a sad, wistful smile.

"Ah, well. I guess this the third time, right?" she murmured, looking over her shoulder towards the cauldron. Ragna shook his head, grunting.

"N-no. The fourth time, _idiot,_" he snapped. Memories flashed up, recollections of destroying past cauldrons. Then one memory flashed up-

_Pain rips through his chest, as he feels the Blade of Heaven's Light puncture his left lung and cuts his heart, rends it open. Blood erupts from behind torn lips, muffling a cry of agony. A moan of pleasure sounds in front of him as blood mixes with more blood, and the darkness crashes down onto them._

Ragna shook his head, taking a moment to regard his bleeding form. No sword running through his chest. It was some idle imagining, perhaps the lingering after effects of attempting to overcome Ookami's near fatal wounds.

"So... You came to kill me again?" the girl asked, giggling as she flitted around the room, feet still covered in blood, and Ragna got a better look at her.

The white silk cloak was held around her throat with a silver gorget, embossed with the wing and blade emblem of the Swords of Heaven. Crimson talismans hung from polished rings, stark and dark against her cloak. Beneath the cloak was a skin tight suit of powder blue synth skin, which hugged close to her slender figure.

And as she wandered, Ragna saw the blade that had been tied into her hair. It swung, shivering through the air almost waspishly.

"No," he muttered, shaking his head, "I came here to _destroy _you." At this, the girl giggled again.

"They're one and the same," she smiled. And as she turned to face him, he saw under the locks of hair that obscured her right eye.

Under that fringe, was a perfect copy of the crystals that adorned Ragna's fists. Gleaming crimson stone set into a ring of steel stared out at him like an angry eye.

She had an Azure Grimoire, and that changed the whole play.

The girl continued speaking, "It hurt so much last time. When you lashed out, I thought I was a goner. And I saw your smile." She watched him carefully, her small, wistful smile suddenly becoming more maniacal.

"You enjoyed it, didn't you. When you pierced me, slashed me open. I was completely defenseless. And you smiled."

"Shut up."

Ragna's voice was low and calm. He glared at the figure before him.

"Don't you dare talk to me with that voice, or look at me with that face. I came here to destroy you," he snarled, feeling anger and rage surge forward again. Nu laughed.

"Today is different. I have a body. I can talk and move. Ah, but would you like something like last time?" again, that impish giggle, high and piercing.

"All you want to do is to destroy and kill and bleed. And with the Azure, you have the power to do that. To fight humanity and end the world. We can destroy this world together."

Ragna was already running, summoning his dwindling strength to attack her.

The Sword slammed into the stone floor behind Nu-13 and she pressed her back to it, smirking.

"Maybe you'll be more open after something a little more physical," she whispered.

Light shone off the sword, and as it vanished, Nu was encased in armour, steel plates and blades and curved lines of silver. A steel visor concealed her eyes behind a fascia of blood red glass. A single burning light stared out from the visor. She raised her hands, long falchion blades worked into her vambraces, and summoned the blades of Murakumo.

Despite Ragna's strength, his determination, the blades practically killed him outright. They shrieked from rifts of black in the air, each one aimed at his blind spots. They emerged in pairs, one to distract, the other to wound and bleed.

Ragna focused himself, feeling two more lancing swords rip through his shoulders. Blood-scythe rang out against Nu's armour and she danced around the weapon, bringing bladed greaves across his chest. As Ragna reeled, she punched her hand like a lance through the side of his stomach and he gave a heaving gasp of pain.

He fell to one knee.

The battle barely lasted ten seconds, and Nu, utterly untouched, shed her armour. She strode in front of him, and smiled.

"I'm the only one who can please you Ragna. And I intend to help feed that hunger for destruction," she murmured, embracing him. Blood-scythe fell to the floor, the blade spattered in Ragna's blood.

"U-uh to... hell with that," Ragna gasped and he limply raised his right hand, staring at it over Nu's shoulder.

"Restriction Six-Six-six released," he growled.

Energy ran through his flesh. Desperation brought forth the conviction to draw on the Grimoire. He felt several wounds seal. Fresh strength was already pumping through him.

"Dimensional Interference Field Deployed."

Electricity sparked off him in strobing arcs, and he felt the power of the Azure flow through him.

"Azure Grimoire, Act-"

Ragna was interrupted by a sudden spike of pain through his chest. He watched his hand go limp and looked down.

The Murakumo sword had ripped into his chest, through Nu, pinning her to him. He felt the razor sharp edges of the sword punch through his ribs and heart. He could barely breath, and he felt Nu's laughter as her chest rose up against his. All the strength he felt vanished and Ragna felt... nothing.

"I'm sorry Ragna, but we need to be forged. See? We're almost there."

He realised that the short fight had pushed them towards the cauldron's edge, and he felt Nu press her weight against him, tipping them over into the furnace. Ragna's caught sight of a figure sprinting towards them, sword drawn.

"Get the hell away from my brother!" the man shouted.

"Jin... Get out of here," Ragna murmured, his face serene and calm.

_I'm sorry, Jin. Couldn't help you in the end. Try and save Saya for me. Ah, I screwed up royally this time. Sorry, Heroic Lady, Tao._

_And Rachel. I'm sorry I failed._

The world went dark for Ragna, and he slipped into merciful unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Rachel stood high above the city, standing on the winds that billowed around her. She lowered her head, tears running down her cheeks and she forced herself to watch the city of Kagutsuchi. It was alive with activity, lights shining around and people living within its massive confines.<p>

The city was home to several million people. And tonight, in her eyes, it would die again.

She looked up, watching one of the stars in the night sky suddenly flare brilliantly.

* * *

><p>That star was known as the the Gigant, Take Mikazuchi, and it was an orbital Nox Nyctores weapon platform. Built on the carcass of an Old Earth satellite, it watched the earth below.<p>

It was a coffin like machine, cross designs and Ars Magus runes etched into its surface. The convex plates split apart, venting seithr from flues across its monstrous back.

Something reared forward, restrained by golden chains.

It had slept for years, and it had awoken again in response to orders given to it by its masters.

_Cleanse and purify._

It opened its fanged maw, blood red light flooding forth, and gold runes and circles emerged from its body.

* * *

><p>Rachel briefly considered intervention. She could easily stop it. Easily prevent the travesty about to occur. But to reveal her hand this time... She could not afford to.<p>

Rachel watched the pillar of light strike the city and forced herself to watch the death of a city and all those who dwelled within. She watched it atomise instantly, leaving nothing but a smouldering crater and scorched earth behind.

She shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I am sorry, Ragna. I have failed you once more," she murmured tearfully. She tried to console herself that this was about to be reversed, to be undone and the cycle started again.

It was a hollow mercy.

She closed her eyes, and listened for the call.

* * *

><p>"Phase 743 finalized. End Result: Black Beast forged. Azure Grimoire lost. The eyes of the Azure Lost. Forced restart by total event collapse," murmured one voice.<p>

"Acknowledged. Amaterasu is engaging restart. Prepare to re-engage."

"Entering Phase 744."

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes: Hoo boy, this was a doozy to write. I am really sorry about not updating more, but I've had a lot on my plate. I originally wanted to divide it into several chapters, but I decided to make them Character Chapters. This format will be dropped for CS' story mode.<em>

_See you next time._


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